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Topics - HayesFXFD17
1
« on: February 10, 2014, 12:44:05 PM »
As of May 1, 2014 the Town of Fairfax will have a new ISO Public Protection Classification (PPC) of 3/8B. This is a monumental improvement from our previous 6/9.
Many U.S. insurers of homes and business’ use ISO’s PPC in their premium calculations. In general, the price of insurance in a community with a good PPC is lower than in a community with a poor rating. ISO assigns a rating number from 1 to 10. Recently Fairfax Fire underwent a day long audit encompassing the following.
• fire alarm and communication systems, including telephone systems, telephone lines, staffing, and dispatching systems
• the fire department, including equipment, apparatus, staffing, training records and validation, as well as geographic distribution of fire companies
• the water-supply system, including the condition and maintenance of hydrants, and a careful evaluation of the amount of available water compared with the amount needed to suppress fires
ISO has developed both a single and split rating system. In a single rating system all properties in that jurisdiction receive the rating. ISO also develops a split classification such as Fairfax, 3/8B; the first class (3) applies to properties within five road miles of a fire station and within 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant. The second class (8B) applies to properties within five road miles of a fire station but beyond 1,000 feet of a hydrant.
Class 1 through 8 falls into a competitive scoring system representing a fire suppression system that includes a credible dispatch center, fire department and water supply.
Class 8B is a special classification that recognizes a superior level of fire protection in otherwise Class 9 areas. It is designated to represent a fire protection delivery system that is superior except for lack of water supply system capable of the minimum flow criteria of 250 gallons per minute for 2 consecutive hours. Fairfax Fire helps achieve this score by having nearly 6000 gallons of water spread across various firefighting apparatus.
Class 9 represents a credible dispatch center and fire department but lacks any creditable water supply.
Examples to show how the Fairfax Fire Department compares to other local communities: Colchester 3, Swanton 5/9, Bellows Falls Class 4, Milton 5/9, South Burlington 3/9
In Vermont, ISO evaluates about 270 communities (Graph below) of which only 5 have achieved a whole or partial class 3 - Fairfax and four other towns. This excellent rating could equate to savings for business and residential properties on their fire insurance premiums. Please contact your insurance company to see how and if this new PPC applies.
As our department continues to improve processes and trainings we commit to providing timely and professional services to the citizens of our community. For any specific questions in regards to this please reach out to Battalion Chief David Raymond, 849-6075 (Station).
Respectfully Submitted;
Justin Hayes, CFI
Fire Chief
2
« on: December 22, 2013, 07:34:51 PM »
This evening the Fairfax Fire Department responded to a home that had been without power since 6am for a carbon monoxide alarm. Due to loss of power they had rigged up alternative sources by having a generator running inside the garage.
Upon arrival crews found lethal levels of CO within the home. Fortunately we were able to mitigate the problem, ventilate and arrange for alternative housing with a family member for the resident. As storm clean up continues please ensure that if you have or know of folks still without power that if they are using alternative sources of heat or electricity that are doing so safely and with caution having proper battery powered CO and Smoke alarms working within the residence.
There are some folks whom are serviced by VELCO who as of 4pm this afternoon our department was advised that some of those people may not have power back until 12/24.
Justin Hayes, CFI
Fire Chief
3
« on: December 04, 2013, 02:16:58 PM »
The joy of the winter road maintenance season is upon us in full swing the Fairfax Fire Department is asking or better yet, pleading for the residents of Fairfax and Fletcher to ensure their private roads and driveways are properly maintained with plowing the full width and sanding as well.
Last evening (December 3, 2013) the fire department responded to a carbon monoxide call on a private road with lack of proper winter maintenance. Upon completion of the call while descending the private road due to lack of adequate maintenance we experienced a significant near miss, narrowly avoiding the truck rolling over and possibly causing significant injury or worse to its crew; never mind the potential damage to the vehicle and it equipment valued at nearly $500,000.
To further paint the picture; upon the tones we knew the road had potential to be bad due to past experiences and altered our standard operating response procedures by sending the Rescue and Engine 2 rather than just sending Engine 1. Engine 1 with its longer wheel base I am not confident we could be considering this only a near miss.
Many residents of our primary communities I am sure never plan on needing either fire or rescue assistance just as I am sure the folks last evening did not. However, one can never predict when you may or may not need the services of the fire department, ambulance or both.
Please ensure you’re your roads and driveways are maintained as if your life and property depend on it, because it may indeed. If we cannot access your property in a time of need than we cannot provide the assistance that was requested or at least not without potential for catastrophic delay.
Justin Hayes, CFI
Fire Chief
4
« on: May 20, 2013, 02:25:22 PM »
*PUBLIC SERVICE MESSAGE*
On Tuesday evening May 21st and May 28th, from 6pm-10pm the Fairfax Fire Department will be conducting Search and Rescue training at the former Food Venture Building at the bottom of Mail Hill. The department will be utilizing environmentally friendly fog machine solution to make the training evolutions as real as possible. This fog has the appearance of smoke and will be visible from the street during the training as heavy volumes will be used. Please do not be alarmed as this is a controlled training session with NO live fire being used. The fire department will ventilate the building using high pressure fans once training is complete to ensure that this smoke like fog is flushed from the building and not visable once we depart the grounds.
The department will also be making simulated announcements over the the Town of Fairfax radio frequency such as Mayday Calls, and fire operations terminology. These messages will be for training purposes only once again and the department will be sure to preface the evenings training and occasionally during the event to ensure that the public is aware.
We would like to thank Gabe Handy for allowing the department to utilize this structure for these critical skill building exercises.
Thank You,
Justin Hayes, CFI
Fire Chief
Fairfax Fire Dept.
5
« on: January 02, 2013, 08:56:26 AM »
Fire destroys home in Underhill-Cambridge
Posted: Jan 01, 2013 11:59 PM EST
Updated: Jan 02, 2013 12:00 AM EST
By WCAX News - bio | emailBURLINGTON, Vt. - Firefighters could not save a home on the Cambridge-Underhill town line Tuesday.
A blaze tore through the home on Circling Hawk Road. The biggest problem -- crews couldn't get equipment to the house. The road leading to the home wasn't plowed. Crews used a skidder to clear part of a path -- and had to use ATVs with tracks -- and snowmobiles to haul in water and supplies. They also used snow surrounding the home -- just to keep it from spreading.
"Unfortunately at this time, the structure has burned to the ground. We were not able to do anything for it. We are just containing the fire and waiting for it to burn out. It's all we can do. It's one of those unfortunate events," explained 2nd Asst. Chief Dan Wyckoff with the Cambridge Fire Department.
No one was hurt in the blaze. The family managed to escape. The cause of the fire is not yet known.
The above story is a sad reality that could strike us at any time here in Fairfax as well. Both Fairfax Fire and Rescue have been extremly busy over the past week and have noticed plenty of driveways and private roads that fit the description from the fire in Cambridge. Decisions made by fire officers to either attempt or not attempt a driveway or road are made in real time and are made first for firefighter safety and second for apparatus and town asset preservation in mind. Please keep your driveways and roadways plowed open as wide as possible and maintained as if your life or home depend on it because in deed it could.
Justin Hayes, CFI
Fire Chief
Fairfax Fire Dept.
6
« on: February 15, 2012, 09:46:27 AM »
Hello fellow citizens and taxpayers,
As town meeting day approaches the fire department has included in its budget the hiring of a full time fire officer for the town of Fairfax. This person would work days Monday through Friday when we are the most vulnerable with staff. In 2011 we did have day time fire calls that went either unanswered by Fairfax Fire or incidents where no fire apparatus was able to respond due to our lack of day time support. We understand that having one full time person will not fix all of our staffing issues during the day but this person would GUARENTE a respone and be able to provide important scene size up information and make formal requests for mutual aid from neighboring departments. The impact of having a full time person is much deeper than just having a committed person to respond to calls it reaches into the core operations of the department with the ability to relieve some of the burden on our volunteers. Listed below are some of the highlights that reflect the current state of our department and roster.
The term “Fire Department” has changed greatly over the years transitioning its primary focus on just fires to dealing with any issues deemed important enough for the requester to dial 911. As a direct result of this the number of emergency responses has increased as well as the state and federal training requirements to maintain firefighter certifications.
Requirements have a significant impact on the family lives of our firefighters, remember, that all these functions and responses are outside of their normal 40+ hour work week. Often times both spouses are working and children have several after school or sports activities that parents attend or assist with. The Fairfax firefighters have less and less time available to commit to the fire department activities, yet the demand for their time continues to increase.
From 2007 through 2010 the department has averaged 2760 hours per year consisting of incident responses, training, maintenance and administrative. In 2007 the roster was at 39 members meaning each member averaged 70.77 hours per year. Currently our current roster is 30 (with a recent recruitment drive) meaning each member (if all was equal) would average 92 hours.
Staffing is an ongoing concern as Fairfax is a bedroom community with little to no industry meaning that our department struggles to find members whom are available during the day time hours.
Currently 86% of our roster works out of town and those that work in town are limited as to when they can respond due to constraints and commitments in their respective places of work.
Aside from responding to calls there are countless behind the scenes activities that make the department functional. The department meets every Tuesday evening to conduct station and fleet maintenance, business meetings, and training to maintain the required continuing education credits. We prioritize our tasks based on the following three categories: Items we NEED to do, SHOULD do and WANT to do.
Having full time fire officer available through the work week will greatly reduce the burdensome impact placed on our current roster. This would allow for a well managed, streamlined organization that can as a whole focus more efforts in the SHOULD and WANT to do categories of our business.
Thank you for your continued support of the Fairfax Fire Department in supporting our mission to protect lives, property and the environment.
Justin Hayes, CFI
Fire Chief
Fairfax Fire Dept.
7
« on: December 08, 2010, 07:13:53 AM »
Sidewall vents are common in new heating and water heating systems, especially high efficiency units. These vents act as a breathing device for these systems. They take in fresh air and mix it with fuel to produce heat, while discharging exhaust fumes that can include carbon monoxide (CO).
If a vent becomes buried in snow or obstructed by a shrub, this may shut down your equipment – or draw exhaust fumes into your home, which can produce high levels of CO inside your house.
To prevent these problems, it's important to remove snow around the vent approximately 48 inches in all directions, and trim any shrubs around the vent, so that your equipment can discharge exhaust.
Please take the time to ensure this is done after each snow event.
Justin Hayes
Deputy Chief
Fairfax Fire Dept.
8
« on: May 27, 2010, 09:59:41 AM »
As the June 7th bridge closure approaches we have noticed a significant increase in vehicular volume on Boissoneault Road. We are confident those local residents who know the roads will exercise caution while traveling the new detour routes however, we all need to be aware that the Boissoneault Rd. Bridge is narrow and in the middle of an “S” turn which has a blind approach from each end. Please enter the bridge slowly and cautiously.
This increase in traffic will also place a burden on the “Yield” from Boissoneault Rd. onto Fletcher road another intersection in the middle of a sweeping hill curve. Turning left from Fletcher Rd. to River Rd. is always tricky due to oncoming vehicles cutting the corner in front of the church. We are sure this will also lead to increased volume on the Goose Pond Bridge which is again narrow and normally only passable one vehicle at a time.
The Fairfax Fire Department has established contingency plans for this detour event and is confident we are prepared and equipped to handle situations that will inevitably arise due to the construction. We will work as quickly and efficiently to clear accidents from the roadways when they occur to keep traffic moving. Please remember Boissoneault Road will be our primary route to access the lower village and everything south of that. We will be entering these bottle-neck areas using ALL of our appropriate warning devices (slow, bright and loud) in an attempt to obtain yielded access and safe passage.
We ask that everyone slow down and use caution when in these detour areas.
Justin Hayes
Deputy Chief
9
« on: May 27, 2010, 09:56:43 AM »
As the June 7th bridge closure approaches we have noticed a significant increase in vehicular volume on Boissoneault Road. We are confident those local residents who know the roads will exercise caution while traveling the new detour routes however, we all need to be aware that the Boissoneault Rd. Bridge is narrow and in the middle of an “S” turn which has a blind approach from each end. Please enter the bridge slowly and cautiously.
This increase in traffic will also place a burden on the “Yield” from Boissoneault Rd. onto Fletcher road another intersection in the middle of a sweeping hill curve. Turning left from Fletcher Rd. to River Rd. is always tricky due to oncoming vehicles cutting the corner in front of the church. We are sure this will also lead to increased volume on the Goose Pond Bridge which is again narrow and normally only passable one vehicle at a time.
The Fairfax Fire Department has established contingency plans for this detour event and is confident we are prepared and equipped to handle situations that will inevitably arise due to the construction. We will work as quickly and efficiently to clear accidents from the roadways when they occur to keep traffic moving. Please remember Boissoneault Road will be our primary route to access the lower village and everything south of that. We will be entering these bottle-neck areas using ALL of our appropriate warning devices (slow, bright and loud) in an attempt to obtain yielded access and safe passage.
We ask that everyone slow down and use caution when in these detour areas.
Justin Hayes
Deputy Chief
10
« on: January 03, 2010, 12:58:59 PM »
As we head out to clean up the nearly 2' of snow please keep a couple of things in mind:
1. Make sure yours and your neighbors furnace or fireplace exhaust vents are clear at least 3' around to ensure proper ventilation and to keep carbon monoxide from building up in the home. Hundreds die every year from failure to keep their vents clear.
2. If you have a fire hydrant in front of your home or adjacent to your home please keep it shoveled at least 2-3' around so we can access in event of fire emergency. This simple task could save precious time and perhaps save yours or your neighbors home.
3. Make sure you shovel paths to ALL exits from your home to ensure adequate escape routes in event of emergency and to allow first responders adequate access you your home should you need Fire and or EMS attention.
4. Do not over exhaust yourself while shoveling take your time and take frequent breaks and be sure to stay hydrated during the process.
5. Last but not least use caution while on roads.
Justin Hayes
Deputy Chief
Fairfax Fire Dept
11
« on: October 08, 2009, 10:46:54 AM »
On Saturday October 10th, from 10:00am to 12:00pm the Fairfax Fire Department is hosting a Fire Safety Day and Open House in coordination with Success By Six. This is a great time for families with or without children to stop by have questions answered, receive free fire safety literature and children's activity books, view the equipment we have, participate in stop, drop and roll exercises, observe a simulated demonstration by members of the department and perhaps take that photo opportunity with your child in front of a fire engine.
We look forward to seeing everyone there on Saturday the 10th.
Justin Hayes
Deputy Chief
Fairfax Fire Department
12
« on: May 09, 2009, 10:45:19 AM »
On Friday May 8th the Fairfax Fire Department, Fairfax Rescue, Franklin County Sheriffs and A.W. Rich Funeral Home in coordination with the BFA administration put on a Mock DUI car crash at the school. The scenario: a drunk student driver involved in a single car accident with death resulting to his passenger.
The fire department responded, assessed the scene and began to extricate the victims of the vehicle with the jaws of life and other extrication tools. Rescue made their assessments of the patients while fire worked around them inside the vehicle. Durring the event the scenario was narrated by the sheriffs department and emphasis was placed on not only what was being seen but the ramifications for such actions after the scene (court, jail time, attending funerals etc..). Once the driver was freed from the vehicle with minor injuries he was tested, processed and taken into custody by the sheriffs. A.W. Rich Funeral Home came into the scene to assist the fire department with the removal of "fatal" victim.
The whole scenario lasted about 45 minutes and was put on for the entire high school student body and faculty. I would like to thank everyone who volunteered their time to put on this production and for the BFA administration for taking such a proactive approach to DUI and teen driving and involving their local emergency services to help get the point across. Also thank you to Fairfax Auto for donating the vehicle that was used.
I am sure Mike will have some excellent pictures to add to this post once he has the time.
Justin Hayes
Deputy Chief
Fairfax Fire Department
13
« on: January 17, 2009, 10:39:29 AM »
 Henry Raymond file photo - From Fairfax Fire Department
Chief Beaudry explained that they entered a house that was heavily involved in fire with extreme heat and zero visibility to conduct a search for a possible victam. During their search they did indeed locate the person in the home and were able to remove the patient to awaiting EMS crews outside. The person unfortunatly did sucomb to their injuries sustained however, if their had been no report of a person missing this was a fire that firefighters may not have ever entered due to the extremely poor conditions.
This is the second highest honor in the City of St. Albans Fire Department.
14
« on: August 08, 2008, 06:48:28 PM »
On Saturday August 9th the Fairfax Fire Department muster team with travel to Rutland to compete in the annual firefighters muster games. The games are put on and sponsored by the Vermont State Firefighters Association (VSFA) as the highlight of the annual State Convention.
Fairfax Firefighers: Jesse Sweet, Patrick Bessette, Tom Crucitti, Carl Lashomb, Kyle Williams, Marc Bessette, and Tim Bessette have spent numerous hours of physical preparation for the events held at the games. Fairfax Fire has partnered up with the City of St. Albans Fire Department where both Fairfax and St. Albans firefighters Justin Hayes and Jordan Hayes are playing for the City this year in St. Albans' inaugural year. All practices have been combined between departments and both plan on sharing members and equipment the day of the games as neither team is able to meet the full team roster of 8 members as required for some events.
This "game training" has not only been a great moral boosting experience for each individual department but has also solidified the bond between two neighboring departments whom do work together quite frequently.
I will be sure to post results of the games on Monday and hopefully firefighter Mike Cain will have some pictures we can post for viewing.
15
« on: June 21, 2008, 12:17:26 PM »
After completing the 160 hour Firefighter One course spanning almost 12 months, I would like to congratulate Firefighters Karl Lashomb, Jesse Sweet and Patrick Bessette. We now have three more fully certified firefighters having moved from the rank of Probationary to Firefighter.
As our department continues to mature and keep pace with the rapidly changing demands of the job we are fortunate to have such dedicated young volunteers contributing to the overall positive growth of the department. It is difficult for most as we all work our 40+ hour a week jobs, family duties, personal time and yet still try to make time to keep up with training requirements as mandated and our ever increasing call volume.
Again congratulations to our new firefighters and thanks you.
Deputy Chief
Justin Hayes
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